Stay With Me
by Ophelia Violet
Summary: "She has about three minutes until she bleeds to death." Scene from 5x18, spoilers for S5. Rated T for ubiquitous bloodshed.


_**12:54**_

Jack Bauer eased open the door to the hangar, his gun raised and his senses heightened. Within one of the inside pockets of his jacket was the all-important recording, a recording that would implicate the President in everything that had happened that day, starting with the assassination of David Palmer.

Naturally this recording was sought after by many. Jack had just fought off a whole crew of men over the recording. But the man he sought, Christopher Henderson, had made his way in here and escaped the gunfire. Jack doubted he'd made a run for it; he wanted the recording as badly as Jack did.

But Jack had another reason to return to the hangar.

"Audrey!" he called out, his voice echoing slightly.

He knew he shouldn't have left her alone. But what choice did he have? Outside, she could have been killed in the crossfire. Audrey wasn't trained as Jack was to handle gunfights; she would have been virtually useless out there. But in here, she was in danger from Henderson. But maybe she had found a place to hide. Maybe she was safe…

"I have her, Jack."

Henderson's voice came from somewhere ahead of him, amid all the clutter in one end of the hangar. Jack felt the bottom drop out of his stomach as he hurried in the direction of the sound.

"Now, don't make me kill her," Henderson called out. "There's been too much killing today already, so just throw out that recording."

Jack spotted them and took cover a good distance away. Of course Henderson wanted the recording; Audrey was merely the bargaining chip.

"Let her go, Christopher." Jack ordered, his gun still raised. Jack didn't trust him at all. After all he had gone through in the past few hours to acquire the recording, he wasn't going to let it go so easily. After all, there was no guarantee that Henderson would let Audrey go once he got the recording. Jack had to hold onto the recording long enough to ensure her safety.

"After I have the recording."

A predictable answer. Jack bit his lip. As much as he wanted to hold onto the recording, every minute Audrey spent as Henderson's hostage was another minute she was in danger. He could see her face, hidden in shadow. She looked resolutely composed, but Jack could tell she was terrified.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you protecting Logan?" Jack asked. The events of the day just didn't add up, especially Henderson's loyalty to the President. Logan's compliance in the day's events needed to be brought to justice. How could he be allowed to be President after today? Surely Henderson understood that.

"I'm protecting something much more important than Charles Logan," Henderson replied staunchly.

"What?" Jack demanded.

"The integrity of our government."

"Our government has no integrity!" Jack shot back. "Not when someone like Charles Logan occupies the presidency!"

Henderson made no reply. Silence hung in the air for a moment.

"Christopher, you can make this right! You can help me stop him!"

"Sorry, Jack." Henderson said, not sounding sorry at all. "Now throw me the recording."

Another moment of silence. Jack lowered his gun as he made a decision.

"I'll give you the recording if you let Audrey go." he finally said.

"I wish I could believe that." Henderson said, his tone cutting.

"I give you my word." Jack promised.

There were many detrimental things that could be said about Jack Bauer. But despite all this, it had to be recognized that he kept to his word.

The tension in the room was palpable as Jack awaited Henderson's reply.

"I'll tell you what: I'll meet you halfway." Henderson said at last.

_The hell? _

"What does that mean?" Jack questioned.

Henderson suddenly dragged Audrey out from their hiding place to a new one, where Jack could barely see anything.

"Audrey?" Jack called out, but Henderson's hand was clamped firmly over her mouth.

Suddenly he heard Audrey's muffled scream.

"Dammit, Christopher!" Jack yelled, not knowing what he had done to her.

"Here she comes, Jack." Henderson said, ignoring Jack's outburst. To Audrey he muttered, "Just walk out slowly or I'll kill you."

With that, he took his hand off her mouth and Audrey began to walk out towards Jack.

Audrey's breath was fast and shallow, and her eyes were wide and terrified.

"Audrey." Jack called, remaining covered. Henderson kept a steady aim with his own weapon as Audrey took another step.

Audrey fought back tears as she walked on slowly. A steady dripping sound accompanied every click of her high-heeled shoes. Still hidden, Jack was perplexed as to what that noise was.

"That's far enough, Miss Raines." Henderson said. The steps stopped, but the dripping intensified. It sounded like someone had left a faucet running slightly.

Jack looked out to see something horribly gruesome.

Audrey was bleeding rapidly from her arm. It looked like someone had splattered red paint all over her white coat. The darkest stain was over the inside of her elbow. Rivulets of blood ran down her arm, dripped off her slender fingers, and fell over the floor, with a growing puddle gathering near her feet. Flecks of blood were all over her side by the wound. Even her feet and shoes were collecting spots of blood. A trail of red marked where she had walked, looking like a long, red string.

Jack only needed one look at her face to see how much pain she was in.

"What have you done to her?" Jack asked, feeling sick just looking at her. He could see a deep laceration in her arm; it had to be the source of all the blood.

"The left brachial artery." Henderson answered calmly. "She has about three minutes before she bleeds to death."

Audrey shuddered and her eyes rolled back into her head for a moment. She looked like she was about to faint. Henderson wasn't lying.

"Now throw me that recording." he commanded, as the blood continued to gather on the floor.

Jack turned away, unable to bear watching Audrey's life drain away. He had to give up the recording or she would drop dead in front of him. This was all too familiar. He had watched so many people he cared about die in the past seven years.

Not again. Never again. He couldn't let this happen.

Surprisingly, Audrey's voice broke the silence.

"Jack, don't." she said. Her voice was weak and quiet, and her face was rapidly losing its color.

Henderson raised his voice. "She's fifteen seconds closer to dying, Jack! Give me the recording!"

"Jack, don't do it." Audrey said, summoning up all the determination she could muster. Her eyes fluttered shut for a moment. Jack looked into her pleading eyes, watching the light within them dim.

"She's running out of time!" Henderson reminded him. As if to drive the point home, the blood quickened in its path down her arm.

"Jack…"

Her voice was so quiet and dull. How much strength was she wasting just by speaking?

She was dying in front of him, and only he could save her.

"Don't do it, Jack." Audrey begged desperately. "Don't! Don't give it to him."

Jack couldn't take it. He didn't care what she said. He couldn't let her die. For once, he had the power to save someone. He couldn't waste it.

He took out the recording from his pocket.

"Here it is!" Jack yelled, displaying it where Henderson could see. His voice drowned out a final plea from Audrey.

He threw the recording towards Henderson; it skittered across the floor past Audrey, who watched it ruefully. She pursed her lips and her eyes glimmered with tears.

Henderson picked up the recording and, without warning, fired off several shots.

Audrey screamed, her blood-curdling cry reverberating around the hangar, as the shots rushed past her and Jack dived for cover. For a fleeting moment, Jack thought Henderson intended to kill Audrey. But it was simply a distraction. Henderson fled out a back door.

Jack returned fire at Henderson's retreating back, but it was useless. He had escaped again, and this time he had the recording.

The instant Henderson was gone, Jack rushed out to Audrey. She had begun hyperventilating. He pulled her close to him, and her knees buckled. Her strength was gone, and she couldn't even stand.

"Easy, easy, easy." Jack murmured soothingly, kneeling down with her. "Stay with me."

He lowered her to the ground. "Stay with me," he repeated himself.

"Jack, go get it." Audrey whispered to him as he brushed her hair out of her face.

"Stay with me," Jack said for a third time, firmly. He looked around, ensuring Henderson still wasn't lurking around somewhere. "I'll be right back."

Audrey laid on the ground, her brow sweaty and her face ashen, and she focused her attention on staying awake.

Jack cut a cord from one of the machines in the hangar and returned to Audrey. "Give me your arm," he ordered. But in her state, she didn't even have the stamina to lift her arm herself. She moaned weakly as Jack tied the tourniquet tightly above the laceration. He lifted her into a sitting position, and she groaned again. It hurt just to look at her, with blood spattered all over her coat, her hand, even her legs.

"I need to move you," he muttered to her. "Come on."

With a grunt of pain from Audrey, he raised her back on her feet and led her away from the pool of blood. He tried to be gentle around her wound, but it wasn't easy. Even with his mind preoccupied with worry for Audrey, Jack couldn't dismiss the feeling of foreboding. Henderson would surely destroy the recording in his quest to cover up for Logan. And then what? Logan would get away with compliance in all the murder and terror of the day. He would still be President. He would likely get Jack arrested and present him as a suspect in Palmer's murder.

He had to get the recording back. But how? He didn't even know what direction Henderson went in or where he was headed.

Jack made Audrey his priority for the moment; he knew he couldn't leave her without proper medical attention for much longer. A tourniquet wouldn't save her if her brachial artery was severed.

_**1:00**_

**I really liked this scene; it really struck me, so I decided to try and transform it from a scene to a fic. Thoughts? **_**  
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